Make Nice Mission: Supermarket Scavenger Hunt

Our Fair Trade Supermarket Scavenger Hunt helps children identify fair trade labels, learn what they mean, and understand why they're so important. Buying fair trade products is the first step to teaching our children how to become responsible consumers. When we "vote with our dollars" we're not only saying “yes” to the product, but we're also saying “yes” to the way the product is made. Purchasing products with a fair trade label ensures that we are supporting items that have been produced in an ethical manner from farmers and workers who are well treated and well compensated for their time.

It’s important for children to know that the fruits, vegetables, chocolate and coffee that we find on the shelves of our local grocery store have all been grown and harvested by hard working farmers around the world. Keeping an eye out for fair trade labels makes us aware of the products we should buy and helps us to do our part in shopping ethically.

WHAT IS FAIR TRADE?

Fair trade helps farmers and craftspeople in developing countries to achieve fair and equal treatment when it comes to the trading of their products. Most of the workers producing clothing, coffee, food, furniture and jewelry are hard working people who lack economic opportunity and have a hard time finding markets and customers to buy their goods. Fair Trade Organizations help these workers to fairly trade their products and improve communities by meeting nutritional needs, health care costs, environmental impacts, sourcing and transport needs, and by empowering the people.

HOW TO IDENTIFY FAIR TRADE PRODUCTS

Below are some examples of fair trade labels that we might see on products to let us know they have been certified.

GO ON A SCAVENGER HUNT!

USE your template to find the different items on the list: bananas, berries, chocolate, honey, avocado, apples, rice.

MARK DOWN the products you found on your list that had a Fair Trade label. Which products were you able to find that were certified Fair Trade? Which products on your list were not certified Fair Trade?

ADD any more fair trade products you found to the list.

TAKE IT ONE STEP FURTHER:

WRITE a letter to your local grocery store explaining why you believe fair trade is important and letting them know how impressed/unimpressed you were with the products you found in the store.

If all of the products you found in your local grocery store were certified Fair Trade, be sure to tell them that you will be spreading the word to your family and friends.

If you were not able to find Fair Trade items in your local grocery store, be sure to ask them to consider buying Fair Trade products when stocking their store.